Kevin Murphy: It is 9:47 and we are back in session. Please do not post conference information on the public internet.
CLOSING REPORT
C.A. WORLD SERVICE CONFERENCE 2010
WORLD SERVICE BOARD OF TRUSTEES REPORT
INTRODUCTION AND OPENING COMMENTS:
Opening Comments:
On behalf of the WSBT, I would like to thank you all for allowing us to be of service. We have truly been blessed to serve the fellowship as your board of trustees. Having addressed a large portion of our work throughout the year in our opening report, it would be redundant to go into it all again. What I can say is that we as a board have remained committed (or we should be) to always being available, accessible, and open to anyone with an interest in what we do.
ITEMS WORKED ON THROUGHOUT THE YEAR:
Our minutes have reflected everything we have worked on throughout the year.
I would like to highlight several of our action items we have been busy with.
The Trustee Negotiation Committee had the challenge and opportunity to complete the contracts for both the new World Service Office and the 2012 World Service Convention in Birmingham, Central District, England. It was fun watching
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Richard Schafer learn he did not REALLY speak or understand English. We did get them both completed. We would be excited to welcome you to both.
One of the challenges we face is the timely, cost effective delivery of our literature to the overseas portion of our fellowship. The WSBT has been actively working on a solution to this. At present, quotes have been obtained for the overseas printing of HFC and HFCII, shortening delivery time from 1 or 2 months down to just a few days, all at a fraction of the cost. We are not ready at this time to roll out a proposal, but that happy day is soon approaching. We will keep you posted.
Another task undertaken has been dealing with all aspects of the online world. From exploring ways to utilize the available technology to having real time video stream point to point meetings to protecting our logo on social network sites. We are excited about the possibilities of this emerging field, remaining mindful of the spirit of our 12 Traditions. There are still a few kinks to work out, but we are making progress.
Committee Introductions:
Robert Lyle, Atlantic North Regional Trustee
Joy Hutcheson: Pacific South Regional Trustee
Randy Groen, South West Regional Trustee
Richard Schafer: Trustee at Large, “acting” World Service Trustee
Kim Sherwan: Midwest Regional Trustee, WSBT Secretary
Lawrence Matlock: Atlantic South Regional Trustee
Nicholas Lynn: European Regional Trustee, WSBT Vice Chair
Trevor Scheible: Pacific North Regional Trustee, WSBT Chair
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COMMITTEE WORK THAT RESULTED IN MOTIONS:
NONE
REFERRALS THAT RESULTED IN MOTIONS:
NONE
REFERRALS OR ITEMS TABLED UNTIL NEXT YEAR; AND ITEMS THE COMMITTEE WILL CONTINUE WORKING ON THROUGH THE YEAR:
Due to our demanding schedule this week, we are not able to address any of the referrals we have received. They will be worked on throughout the year, and will be included in our opening report at next year’s conference.
Referral #6419 TRUSTEE ELECTION COMMITTEE
In the C World Service Manual, on pg 46, under heading “Trustee Election Committee,” under sub-heading “Guidelines for the Election Process”, strike the language of line item 10 in its entirety “If neither candidate receives the required 2/3 ratification vote, the position will remain open until the next Conference. The members of the Board of Trustees will assume the duties of that position.” And replace with “If after the fourth and final ballot no election occurs, the TEC Chairperson announces that the choice will be drawn from the hat containing the top two (2) vote-receiving candidates. The first name out of the hat is the elected trustee.”
Referral #6420 – TEC
In the CA World Service Manual, on Page 44, under heading “Trustee Election Committee” insert the following language “ALL TEC interviews and voting
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processes and procedures shall be conducted during the CAWS Conference, shall be open to the Conference and shall be held in an area, roped off if necessary, where all Conference members can view the proceedings, if so desired.”
Referral #6421 – TEC
In the CA World Service Manual, on Page 44, under heading “Trustee Election
Committee” strike the following language from the following paragraph: “All Trustees except the WSO Trustee, shall be elected from the Conference Approved Slate pursuant to the procedures outlined in this Manual. The WSO Trustee shall be selected from the candidates selected by the WSO Board not already a Trustee. In order to be elected Trustee, a candidate must receive a vote of two-thirds of the Trustee Election Committee.”
Referral #6424 NON-ADDICT TRUSTEE
Hi. On page 43 WSM, related to trustee slates. As I read this section it references (conference approved slate) three slates only. Regional slate, non-addict trustee, WSO trustee slate. I understood that if the regional slates are allowed and passed by the conference, that takes care of approving the TAL slate and the WST slate also by that action and so, to me, having a separate TAL slate and WST slate is not necessary.
Referral #6460 WSBT Reports
The WSBT reports are, in my opinion, rambling and somewhat self-indulgent. At the end of a 6,000 mile flight funded by my area, out of tradition 7 donations, I expect the time at conference to be spent dealing with business.
Could future reports deal, in the main, with business proposed and/or transacted.
Particularly in the diabolical absence of WSBT minutes.
Referral #6639 MORE TEC DELEGATES
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Increase the number of TEC Delegates – either double (or at the very least increase by 4). Regions who are not represented by a TEC elected trustee are automatically entitled to an additional delegate.
Referral #6640 TEC QUESTIONS
Increase the number of TEC questions and rotate each year. Also, allow each delegate and trustee to ask one question not on that year’s list.
Referral #6641 VOTE ABSTENTION
Rescind the motion that an abstention in a TEC vote equals a no vote. Restore the right of “abstaining” under concepts 3 & 4.
Referral #6648 TRUSTEE QUALIFICATIONS
On Pg 42 of the WSM; under the heading qualifications, #4 4. A (suggested) minimum of eight years of continuous…
Referral #6657 TRUSTEE CLEAN TIME QUALIFICATIONS
To reconsider qualification #4 of the Addict Trustee as setout on page 42 of WSM. Is 8 years cleantime the “right” number?
Referral #6677 HOW IT WORKS
Bring forth a motion to the floor to accept the actions taken by the trustee’s on the “How it Works” issue.
Referral #6688 GOD BOWL
Please add back as the final step in the TEC process to add a God Bowl. *Please note that if the TEC have gone through each step and cannot choose a trustee – then the last 2 names would be placed in a bowl and one choosen. This would ensure no trustee position would go vacant.
Referral #6707 LARGER BOARD
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The office board should be expanded to include more members. Perhaps two more positions would be appropriate. One could/should go to a Canadian member and one should/could be for a European member. They could attend via Skype, etc.
REFERRALS OR ITEMS REFERRED TO OTHER COMMITTEES; WORLD SERVICE OFFICE, OR BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
NONE
REFERRALS THAT DID NOT RESULT IN MOTIONS:
Referral #6417 COMMITTEE INVENTORY
Referral 6417 is respectfully submitted to the WSBT. The referral itself is in italics. The remainder is simply supporting information / ideas / suggestions should you find them useful.
This referral is a request that the WSBT take a group inventory of itself in the spirit of assessing how well the WSBT helps the Conference to fulfill its purpose and to identify what action(s) the WSBT could take to improve the WSBT’s ability to better help the Conference fulfill its purpose.
Should the WSBT opt to take no action on this referral either at the 2010 Conference or as a post-Conference activity throughout the 2010 / 2011 year, please be kind enough to cite the WSBT’s reason(s) for not undertaking such action in the WSBT’s closing Conference report.
Rationale (aka debate):
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As individuals we undertake a personal inventory to uncover and discover things about ourselves and begin the process of growing spiritually. We continue to take personal inventories to perfect and enlarge our fit spiritual conditions.
Many CA Groups find that taking a regular inventory is healthy for the Spiritual well being of the Group and to assess how well the Group is fulfilling its primary purpose. Inventory helps the Group:
- Have a clear sense of itself and its primary purpose
- Gauge its success in fulfilling its primary purpose
- Evaluate its ability to successfully carry its message
- Ponder whether it is it right sized in its perception of itself
- Appraise its role in contributing financially
- Consider how CA is improved by the group’s existence
Extending the self-examination practice of inventory to the District and Area has also proven to be a effective means to keep these bodies focused, efficient, effective, and on track Spiritually.
“A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock-in-trade. One object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret. If the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values.” [Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 64].
The Big Book uses the metaphor of a business inventory as a means to underscore its suggestion that there is value in the inventory process. Then it applies the concept of taking an inventory to the personal level as a means to recover spiritually. Most CA members would agree the process of taking inventory has personal value. The Conference and its committees are the
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‘business’ of CA and applying inventory at the ‘business level’ of CA becomes more than a simple metaphor; group inventory will help keep CA from going ‘broke’ spiritually, financially or in other ways. Don’t we owe the Fellowship that effort?
There are those who would argue that taking inventory at the level of Conference committees, boards, or the Conference itself is not necessary. They might argue that AA or NA don’t do this. When faced with such flawed reasoning, it might be fair to consider the size of CA’s membership relative to these other Fellowships and ask, if we are not in some need of improving ourselves, our methods, our effectiveness then why is CA’s membership comparatively so much smaller? If the answer is that there are simply fewer cocaine addicts than alcoholics or addicts in general then an inventory might cause us to ask, is it really efficient, effective, and in the best interests of CA as a whole to support and maintain the very large infrastructure that CA presently has in order to sustain our much smaller Fellowship? Undeniably, these are difficult questions. No one is suggesting that the inventory process will necessarily be easy though it may be.
Some would argue the inventory process is too cumbersome to perform at the Conference committee or board level. Is it too burdensome if the process helps us improve such that we reach out and save ten more lives this year than we did last year? Can this board be a small part of that improvement or is it perfect as it is? Tradition Two in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions offers for consideration that sometimes the good is the enemy of the best; is this committee functioning at it best? Consider Tradition Two again – “For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority – a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.” Does this board specifically consider how well it functions by taking a group conscience (i.e. a group inventory)? If God expresses Him/Her Self in the group conscience then where is God in all this if there is no group conscience?
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Others will point out that a referral similar to this was submitted at the 2008 Conference. They are right. The referral was submitted to a single committee for action. Effectively, no action was taken. That submission unwisely placed a very vital point of consideration in the hands of just a few people to be decided on everyone else’s behalf. That is not stated to say those individuals did anything wrong but rather to say that you most likely did not have any voice in making that decision. Now you have a voice. It is important to note that the Conference membership changes yearly and the deliberation of any individual referral may have different outcomes in any given year as different members with different ranges of experience consider a referral’s subject matter. Given this fact, and to account for the reality that sometimes it takes a long time to effect change, it is entirely proper to submit referrals as frequently as every year.
RESPONSE: The WSBT, as part of our regularly scheduled quarterly, close every meeting with a group inventory. It is a time and place for all members to discuss where we are at, what we have done, and areas where we need improvement. Members of the WSBT are encouraged to speak openly and freely, and changes to process have come as a result of these sessions.
NEW COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AS OF THIS CONFERENCE:
Kim Sherwan – Midwest Regional Trustee – WSBT Chair
Randy Groen – Southwest Regional Trustee – WSBT Vice Chair
Richard Schafer – Trustee at Large – WSBT Secretary
Robert Lyle, Atlantic North Regional Trustee
Joy Hutcheson: Pacific South Regional Trustee
Kenny Williams – Atlantic South Regional Trustee
Terry Marsden – Pacific North Regional Trustee
Russell Sedman – European Regional Trustee
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Richard Leve – World Service Office Trustee
Peter DeRaffaele – World Service Trustee
CLOSING COMMENTS:
With the close of this conference, the structure of the board is about to undergo a major change, with four members moving on. We do, however, have five excited new members about to move in and get busy. I am excited to see something I love continue moving forward. I wish them all future success in helping and guiding the Fellowship of Cocaine Anonymous through whatever comes our way. I am certain they can and will get the job done. Thank you for allowing us to be of service.
Respectfully Submitted:
World Service Board of Trustees
Kevin Murphy: Any questions?
Glen Tucker: I remember when trustees rotate out at once, is anything put in place so that it doesn’t happen?
Trevor Schieble: It has been addressed and discussed. It’s our feeling to correct the rolling-off process is hard to do. You have trustees that have personal reasons for leaving, it’s not something we felt strongly enough to address or necessary action to correct.
Kevin Murphy: About 10 years ago an attempt was made and it was appealed a couple years later.
Jason Laurence: With reference to the statement items worked on throughout the year, our minutes have reflected everything we worked on throughout the year. As I mentioned I haven’t received those minutes. I want to know when we will get them.
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Kim Sherwan: I think we answered this before. Currently our minutes are up to date since May. In May we experienced equipment problems and we had a change in our transcriber. We are having the minutes transcribed from May. Everything else is out. We worked last year to make sure we got caught up. Hopefully everything we’ve done this week and the May quarterly will be out soon.
David Booth: How do I go about thanking you for helping me experience the most incredible experience I had for sitting on the TEC? I really, really was moved by that experience sitting on the committee. I think the planets aligned with you. You folks made the difference for me.
Trevor Schieble: Keep coming back and doing what you’re doing.
Glen Tucker: The Unity was working online and occasionally we needed things, I was informed things needed to be signed off by a trustee before it could be posted.
Trevor Schieble: Anything posted on the website, the final step is to have the trustee sign off for the last set of eyes to make sure it was done correctly. As far as a committee asking for a sign-off, there is a delay there. We distribute it amongst the board and we look at it. It’s a 5-6 day process about from the final motion to the motion, and can take a couple weeks depending on what we are approving.
Nick Alexander: I love this CA WSBT guidelines. I was trying to figure out, this is your internal workings, right?
Trevor Schieble: Yes.
Patrick Potter: In the minutes that are available, there is a decision made by the board and later on it was rescinded and offline discussion and there is nothing about what took place in the middle. Can you please keep the continuity of how things occur so that it’s clear?
Trevor Schieble: As the chair my fault, sorry.
Glen Tucker: Can I be informed ASAP if I need to get a sign-off on a couple pieces?
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Trevor Schieble: Yes, the new assignments are generally done in the next month. You will be notified.
Nick Alexander: In the WSBT guidelines, I can’t find anything on TEC, do TEC referrals go to S&B or to the Trustees?
Trevor Schieble: I suggest you send the referral to S&B and ask the trustee for any input. Because it’s in the manual, that process belongs to this conference. Kevin Murphy: Seeing no further questions, thank you.
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